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Today Canon showed off an ‘engineering prototype’ of a possible 4K Camera under development, and while they are careful to state that this will probably never see the light of day without extensive rework, the various opinions around the device are heavily polarized.  This was just too interesting to pass up.

First, Gizmodo loves it, which is no surprise since they love just about any gadget.

I really hope Canon makes this concept compact 4k camera one day, even if it says it’ll never come out just like this. It’s like the looming future of cameras sculpted in black plastic, a photon blaster-cum-camera.

A mere 5.5 pounds, this working concept model shoots 4K video at 60 frames a second using a single 2/3-inch CMOS sensor.

Then, ProLost takes one look at it and struggles to hold back the vomit.

There’s so much wrong with this “concept camera” that I hardly know where to begin. It’s an atrocity of aesthetics and ergonomics. It has a fixed, not-very-special 20x zoom lens. The sensor is only 2/3”. It shoots 60fps. Nothing about this camera reflects any awareness of what digital cinematographers want. It’s as if Canon brass lifted the internet ban on the engineer’s dungeon just long enough for them to visit to RED’s web site, and then shut it down again after they’d read as far as “4K.”

Finally, Philip Bloom takes a look and gives us a more balanced response.

It was actually working and was crisp as hell…This concept camera had  a fixed 2/3″ 20x Zoom lens as the chip itself is 2/3″. I am not sure what the idea of it is, they mentioned something about medical something or other. It’s obviously not a cinema concept camera due to the fixed lens. The image out of it was actually really really nice. As I have said and I and am sure you all want to,  is to see an APS-C chip in camera like this and use all the current Canon glass or PL lenses…but Canon have a different marketing strategy to someone like RED. RED announce their road map and make it very public. Canon keep things close to their chest. If there is a cinema camera coming out or a new improved DSLR for video there is no way they would show a concept camera of it and show the competition what they have up their sleeve.

So all three of them are speaking of the same camera, but so many different views.  Those who love technology, those who use cameras on a daily basis, and those who cover the companies.  So, what do you think?

Hardware 4k, camera, canon

At IFA2010, LG is demonstrating a new 31″ OLED-TV that is an astonishing 2.9mm thick, and capable of full HD at 600Hz.  It’s only a prototype, but LG is targeting a 2011 release.

Blends in harmoniously with any home interior, whether on a stand, or mounted on walls or even ceilings

• 31 inch OLED-Tv
• World slimmest depth with 2.9 mm
• 3D Crosstalk Free
• Infinite Contrast ratio
• Viewing Angle Fee

I mean look at that photo, there’s practically nothing there!

via Pictures from LGs 31 inch 3D-OLED-Television at IFA-2010.

Hardware ifa2010, lg, oled, television

VFX artists from Troublemaker Studios used high-powered 6-core AMD Opterons and FirePro V8800′s to bring all the post-processing work for Robert Rodriguez’s ‘Machete’, over 500 shots work, in a mere 6 months with 10 artists.

Shots from three different digital camera models, one film camera, camera tracking work using PFTrack, 3D special effects work using Softimage, and compositing work using Nuke, all came together through AMD hardware.

Such added effects include extensive set damage, a huge number of bullet holes, and wide-ranging set extensions. AMD hardware also played a part in sophisticated particle simulations helped more accurately render realistic blood spatters that interact with each other, the actors and objects in the environment.

via AMD CPUs and GPUs Used to Make ‘Machete’.

Graphics, Hardware amd, troublemaker, vfx

The NVidia GeForce GTX460 has really become popular for it’s low price and stunning performance, but with so many out there how do you choose between them?  Toms Hardware takes 9 different cards and gets down to the gritty details for you.

Awarded for its position as the best bang-for the buck graphics solution in both single-card and SLI configurations, the only question in the minds of hopeful buyers of Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 460 1 GB card is: which particular board to buy? Over a dozen manufacturers offer a vast array of clock speeds, accessory packages, and support. So, we asked that question for you.

In the end, it looks like the tradeoff is performance vs warranty.  The cost is nearly identical on all the cards, but the highest-performing ones seem to have the worse warranties.  They try out :

• Asus ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/1GD5
• ECS Black Series GTX 460 NBGTX460-1GPI-F
• EVGA GeForce GTX 460 SuperClocked 1024 MB EE (External Exhaust)
• Gigabyte GTX 460 GV-N460OC-1GI
• Jetway’s Exibition Card
• MSI N460GTX Cyclone 1GD5/OC
• Palit GTX 460 Sonic Platinum Overclocking Edition
• Sparkle GeForce GTX 460 1024 MB GDDR5
• Zotac GeForce GTX 460 1 GB

Personally, I’m a fan of EVGA but any of them looks like great choices.

via Roundup: Nine GeForce GTX 460 1 GB Boards Benchmarked : Shuffling Through The Cards.

Hardware benchmark, nvidia

We’ve talked about Philip’s impressive 21:9 Cinema television before (here and here), but today they’ve taken it to the next level and added full HD 3D support.

Another world first from Philips: a cinema proportion 3D TV that lets you enjoy movies the way they’re meant to be seen in the ultra-wide 21:9 movie format, plus glorious Full HD 3D. The end result? A whole new dimension to your movie, sport and gaming experiences – the likes of which has never been seen before.

I’m not really sure how you’re supposed to watch movies in 21:9, unless you just watch your regular bluRay’s in widescreen format and the top-and-bottom black bar are gone.  Either way, the TV is impressive and now right on par with everything else going out these days.

via Philips – Cinema 21:9 – 9000 series – 8000 series – 7000 series – 5000 series – Small LED Series – Televisions – Sound and vision.

Hardware philips, television

Tom’s Hardware takes the new NVidia Quadro 5000 out for a spin and puts it up against the ATI FirePro V8800 to see who wins in the workstation space.  The results are no surprise, especially if you paid attention to our earlier review.

Looking at our benchmark results, it’s clear which card comes out on top: Nvidia’s Quadro 5000 is superior to AMD’s FirePro V8800 in almost every benchmark, usually by a clear margin. Based on their mainstream equivalents, we wouldn’t have expected such a great performance disparity between these two graphics boards. After all, AMD’s offering is built on an excellent modern design, though it seems to have trouble living up to its performance potential in a workstation environment.

Indeed, we don’t think that it’s the hardware to blame. After all, the Radeon HD 5870 is faster than the GeForce GTX 465. Rather, it’s AMD’s driver at fault. While they are stable, they are apparently not very well optimized yet, holding the V8800 back. This isn’t just the case compared to Nvidia’s current flagship. The V8800 should have been able to outpace its own predecessor by a much larger margin. AMD’s best approach would be to commit more resources to its driver team to rectify the situation.

Workstation Shootout: Nvidia Quadro 5000 Vs. ATI FirePro V8800 : Introduction.

Hardware amd, benchmark, nvidia

The Inquirer has posted a video of the new Viewsonic 3-D camera that is being shown this week at the IFA 2010 Consumer Electronics show in Berlin. The Viewsonic 3-D camera appears to be a rebadged Aiptek i2 camera. It is capable of recording 720p video by using two five megapixel CCDs.

The salesman in the video also shows off Viewsonic’s latest 3-D photo picture frame. Unfortunately, not everything works perfectly in the video, but that is true of many new products. From the article at the Inquirer:

A 3D VIDEO CAMERA with a display that does not need glasses to see the video in its eye boggling glory and a photo frame that shows still and moving images in glorious three dimensions, again without spectacles…

via : Viewsonic demos its 3D video camera and display frame @ the Inquirer

Hardware 3d, camera

I wanted to take another step away from our usual content and ask that you head over to the Pepsi Refresh project and vote for the “Make Juvenile Myositis a Memory” project. I know someone (names withheld for privacy) with a child with JM, and it’s a hard disease for not only the kids but the parents. Today is the last day for voting, and they are bouncing between #1 and #3. #1 and #2 both receive $250k, so we just need to keep it out of #3!

With the possible money they could win:

This project will allow the CureJM foundation to continue critical research. Funding the center of excellence will allow JM researchers to combine clinical evaluation with drug research targeted at combating the devastating effects of this disease. Many researchers believe that there is also a genetic predisposition to autoimmune diseases. As such, they feel that a child afflicted with JM is likely to have a blood relative who suffers from another autoimmune disease such as diabetes or arthritis. Continuing to fund this vital research is of paramount importance to fulfill CureJM’s goal to make sure that no child suffers another day with JM.

They’ve in the running for the big reward, the $250. Just visit their website, or click the badge here to cast your vote. You can vote every day, and help find a cure.

via Make Juvenile Myositis a Memory | Pepsi Refresh Everything.

Graphics, Hardware, Science offtopic

Nvidia has released their latest WHQL (Windows Hardware Quality Labs) graphics driver. Guru3D has taken a deeper look into the driver and has found that it mentions new middle-range and low-end graphics cards. The driver also mentions several variants with an “M” on the end. One can suppose that those will be mobile versions of the graphics chips.

• NVIDIA_DEV.0E23.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GTS 455)
• NVIDIA_DEV.0DC4.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450)
• NVIDIA_DEV.0DC5.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450)
• NVIDIA_DEV.0DC0.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GT 440)
• NVIDIA_DEV.0DE1.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GT 430)
• NVIDIA_DEV.0DE2.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GT 420)
• NVIDIA_DEV.0E30.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470M
• NVIDIA_DEV.0DD1.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M)
• NVIDIA_DEV.0DD2.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M)
• NVIDIA_DEV.0DD3.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GT 435M)
• NVIDIA_DEV.0DF2.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GT 435M)
• NVIDIA_DEV.0DF0.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GT 425M)
• NVIDIA_DEV.0DF3.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GT 420M)
• NVIDIA_DEV.0DF1.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GT 420M)
• NVIDIA_DEV.0DEE.01 (NVIDIA GeForce GT 415M)

NVIDIA 259.47 WHQL show new GTX 400 Cards @ Guru3D

Hardware fermi, nvidia

HDGuru has posted their annual article on what to look for in high definition television sets, and where to find the best deals on HD TVs. Of course the big news this year is the 3-D models for televisions. Just remember that for 3-D models you still need the source material, that is, a 3-D signal from satellite, cable, or a 3-D Blu-Ray player.

The start of the football season traditionally marks the beginning of the TV selling season. With the economic slowdown continuing HDTV sales have not been up to set makers’ optimistic projections, resulting in swollen inventories. This is great news for consumers. Dealers are offering dramatic price drops aided by factory sponsored deals to try to get sales back on target.

Looking back at our 2009 selling season article, sale prices this year are 20%-25% lower than last year’s equivalent models, with the 2010s offering better performance (such as higher contrast ratios) and more features.

via : 2010 HDTV Selling Season Begins

Hardware hdtv